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| Kris Gopalakrishnan, President and Chief Operating Officer, Infosys, Bangalore |
40 years ago, while studying in Government Model School, Thiruvananthapuram, Kris Gopalakrishnan had a dream: to become a good doctor and serve the poor. That dream did not materialize as he could not obtain a seat for MBBS. But that prompted him to reset his goals. And today, as the President and Chief Operating Officer of IT giant Infosys, he must be thankful - perhaps - to that initial setback.
After doing B.Sc (Physics) from University College, Thiruvananthapuram, he completed post graduation in Physics from IIT Madras. At that time, admission to M.Tech in Computer Science was open to those who cleared M.Sc (Physics). And so Kris made use of the opportunity.
With the degree in Computer Science, Kris joined Pani Computer System as a software engineer. His quick rise as Project Manager was noticed by non other than N.R.Narayana Moorthy. Moorthy, who wanted to start a computer firm, and Kris who wanted to expand the operation outside India moved closer to the realization of their immediate goal. And with 5 other like-minded persons pooling in resources, the nascent Infosys booted itself to reality on a shoestring budget of Rs.10000. The rest of the company history is a story of their vision and leadership as well as faith in each other.
He was silently and effectively giving technical leadership to the company in USA when the call came from Moorthy to come back to India and take up the current position.
His wife Sudha Gopalakrishnan recently became the richest woman in India when the worth of her assets in Infosys was valued at Rs.1990.1 crores. Though active in the charitable and social programmes of Infosys Foundation, she is reluctant to reveal either her native place or the details about their only daughter, now a student in Bangalore.
For official or personal reasons, Kris visits Kerala once a month.
Courtesy:
Rajesh Parishwad, Vanitha, October 1-14, 2006
Contributed by: Administrator
